TRENTON, N.J. (Legal Newsline) – Nationwide cable, Internet and telephone company Altice is challenging the state of New Jersey's Board of Public Utilities' (BPU) attempt to force the company to use prorated billing instead of whole-month billing.
Altice USA Inc. filed a complaint Dec. 13 in the U.S. District Court for the District of New Jersey against the BPU and President Joseph Fiordaliso alleging violation of the Federal Cable Communications Policy Act of 1984, New Jersey Administrative Code, The Supremacy Clause of the U.S Constitution and the New Jersey Constitution.
According to the suit, Altice has a nationwide policy of billing its cable customers in advance and in monthly increments with customers who cancel service being billed through the end of their billing cycle.
The suit states in 2018, the BPU began a show cause proceeding against Altice over allegations its billing policy violates state law and a cease and desist order seeks to compel Alice to stop its whole month billing policy and issue refunds.
Altice alleges the BPU's attempt to enforce proration requirements a "quintessential rate regulation" in violation of state law as well as federal law.
Altice seeks a judgment that the cease and desist order and proration requirement is preempted by federal law and all other proper relief. It is represented by Sidney Sayovitz, Jeffrey LaRosa and Thomas Gamerello of Schenck, Price, Smith & King LLP in Florham Park, New Jersey.
U.S. District Court for the District of New Jersey case number 3:19-CV-21371-BRM-ZNQ